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Republicans plan $50 million independent effort in 2010

1. A group of prominent Republican strategists have combined to form American Crossroads, a 527 committee that is aiming to spend upwards of $50 million on House and Senate races this fall.

"We intend to paint a very vivid picture of the fork in the road that this country faces -- not merely a choice between two candidates, but a serious philosophical decision about the future of this country," said Jim Dyke, a former Republican National Committee communications director and now a member of American Crossroads' board of directors.

Dyke is joined by former RNC chairman Mike Duncan and vice chair Jo Ann Davidson on the board while Steven Law, a former executive director at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, will serve as president and CEO. Former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie and former White House deputy chief of staff Karl Rove are serving as informal advisers to the group as well. Dyke added that the group is currently hiring operatives with state-specific campaign knowledge to bolster the operation.

(It should be lost on no one that the past senior leadership of the RNC is involved in the effort even as current RNC Chairman Michael Steele continues to battle through a series of public relations hiccups.)

The broader goal of American Crossroads, according to Dyke, is to help Republicans win races this fall and "then expand that model to play a decisive role in winning the presidential election two years from now."

In that, American Crossroads is aiming to take a page from what Democrats did in 2004 -- constructing a shadow party to spend hundreds of millions on the presidential election. The Democratic effort -- a three-headed beast that included the Media Fund, which handled ads, America Coming Together, which handled turnout, and America Votes, which coordinate between the two -- was lauded for its broad reach but disbanded after the election in the wake of a series of campaign finance rulings.

Both parties have tried to recreate the fundraising successes of 2004 but have never come close. If American Crossroads can reach their lofty fundraising goals in 2010, it could be a major player in the 2012 presidential race.

1) Roughly one in five people (17 percent) consider themselves members of the Tea Party movement.

2) Of that 17 percent, roughly six in ten identify themselves as Republicans while 28 percent describe themselves as independents and 13 percent call themselves Democrats. Two-thirds self-identify as conservatives while 26 percent described themselves as moderates and just eight percent were liberals.

3) Tea parties are far more male (56 percent) than female (44 percent), a contrast to the general public (48 percent male/52 percent female).

4) Twenty-one percent of Tea Party movement say that the national debt/spending issues are the most important issue facing the country, more than double the number in the overall poll sample.

5) Just 15 percent of self-identifying Tea Party members believe the country is headed in the right direction while 83 percent said it was heading off on the wrong track; a similar 17 percent approved of how President Obama was handling his job while 81 percent disapproved.

3. A new California poll conducted for the Los Angeles Times by Democrat Stan Greenberg suggests that not only is former eBay CEO Meg Whitman a strong favorite in the June 8 primary but her business background is appealing to voters in the Golden State.

Whitman holds a huge 60 percent to 20 percent primary edge over state Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner (R) -- a lead consistent with other statewide polling in the primary. Whitman also is running statistically even with state Attorney General Jerry Brown -- 44 percent for Whitman, 41 percent for Brown -- in the general election.

Much of her rapid polling rise is due to her extended statewide ad campaign, according to the poll. Three quarters of all Californians said they had seen a Whitman ad as compared to 47 percent who has seen a Poizner ad and just 15 percent who had caught a Brown commercial.

Perhaps most encouraging for Whitman is the fact that 40 percent said that a candidate with a business background would most appeal to them while 35 percent opted for a candidate with experience in elected office. As we have written before, Whitman is the best known of a group of businessmen and women running -- and, generally, running well -- for office this year.

4. Former Iowa governor Terry Branstad (R), seeking to consolidate his strength in both the primary and general election, is launching two ads statewide today -- both aimed at reminding Hawkeye State voters of the difficult circumstances facing the state and reminding them of what they liked about him.

"Are you ready for a comeback?" Branstad asks at the start of the 60-second ad, a commercial that features a series of Iowans touting the Republican's résumé. "Whatever Governor Branstad says, he will do," says one man in the ad. The commercial also touts Branstad's plan to create 200,000 more jobs and increase family income by 25 percent.

"Iowans are genuinely hurting and concerned," Branstad says at the start of the second ad before turning to a message of hope about the state having "come back" before. "I know. given the opportunity, Iowans will exceed expectations," says Branstad.

The ads come roughly two months before the state's June 8 primary where Branstad is heavily favored to win. Independent polling also suggests that Branstad is a strong frontrunner in a general election against Gov. Chet Culver (D) who has struggled badly in his first four years in office.

Funny how 15% of California voters think they've seen a Jerry Brown commercial. He hasn't run any commercials yet. Meg Whitman has put nearly $60 million into her campaign and has spent $46 million already. Jerry Brown has spent maybe $500K. Poizner hasn't spent much yet, either. Not so sure she's going to keep that lead...

As far as California goes, Jerry Brown has not even started a campaign. He has several very important cases in which he is involved as the Attorney General of CA. Little "Whitless" or as her other name is known here "Nutmeg" has stated that SHE, if elected - a VERY big IF - would "require" the Legislature to form "3 teams" to work with her (At her bidding) to accomplish reducing the state work force to 40,000 (It is currently about 300,000) and also to impliment reducing taxes. GIVE ME A BREAK! WHO is this idiot - who, BTW, has hardly ever voted - think that SHE could control the Legislature? It is a SEPARATE body, NOT beholden to her (More crap MBA CEO mentality here). Whitless has yet to fully disclose ANYTHING as is required by law, has yet met with hard edge reporters, and she will be creamed in any debate w/ Brown (Remember, HE was training to become a Jesuit, and you do not want to mess with them intellectually....EVER). So her millions spent on campaign ads have given her a bump in the polls....BFD. When "Push comes to shove" Nutmeg will be on the losing end of the stick. BTW, several R businessmen in SoCal have donated to JB...even before he ever announced. The reality is, as myself and many of my progressive friends realize, that JB would be considered mod R by standards of 40 years ago. I lived in Oakland when he was mayor, and he did a really good job. In fact, several of my AA friends, who did not vote for him 1st time around, wildly supported him for his 2nd term. Go figure.

The price of stocks go up when money flows into the market faster than fees and sellers take it out. When fees and sellers predominate, it falls.

Over the life of the baby boom, there was a constant influx of new money, as BBers got money to invest. Now BBers are in the sell cycle as they or their heirs try to turn investment into terminal cash. That swing is big and is growing. As more BBers need more liquidity the downward pressure gets greater and greater. It doesn't matter if those stocks are printed on solid gold, as BBers need money, prices fall.

"Republicans plan $50 million independent effort in 2010 1. A group of prominent Republican strategists have combined to form American Crossroads, a 527 committee that is aiming to spend upwards of $50 million on House and Senate races this fall."

GRRRREAT!!! Here come another bunch of very rich and very RIGHT Republicans out to buy an election in which they threaten, cajole, and bribe the R's who run to run even farther to the Right. If they spend $1000 million or so, at least they will have produced a few temporary jobs. But since they will be fighting over, or fighting alongside, the rest of the radical right for the votes of the base, the center will have every reason to feel even more marginalized and alienated.

NOW if the R's had a whole bunch og PROGRESSIVES decide to support more centrist candidates for the coveted Rovian R, it might mean something.

This Crew is just Male Chauvinist Sarah Mania, showing that you don't need ditzy fems to be a ditzy party.

I'm 16 years removed from Iowa, though it was a pretty good place for grad school. Beer was cheap and there wasn't that much to do in Ames but study. Note-good local arts scene, including Jane Smiley, the Ames Piano Quartet and some independent bands. You could hear U2 all across town when they came through on their Zoolook tour.

A combination of nostalgia for Terry, anti-incumbent mood and a cautious campaign will return Governor-for-life to office. Incidentally, google "Governor for life" and Branstad and you get 7000 hits.

Let's see, former Republican leaders, and neo-con front men, financed by the International Bankers who are working for a "One World Government" continue to distort the truth and continue to create unrest in the United States political process by pouring $50 million into this years election.

I think that summarizes what should really have been said in this article.

Any time Karl Rove is involved, you can find some of the International Bankers in the background, since he is and has been their front man, pulling the strings on whichever puppet is in power on the neo-con side.

BB, thanks for your take on Iowa. It seems that Branstad is the better candidate from what you have written and the news we read of Culver.

12BB, I no longer follow the market with the avidity of a young investor - at 66 I am moving from equities to income. But you do, apparently for a living. I enjoyed your conversation with KOZ on trading strategies recently. So I call upon your insights. In a general sense:

Do you see Dow above 11000 as overheated, b/c P/E does not justify it?

I read Drindl's link to a disenchanted R fundraiser and it is interesting, but bsimon and drindl, I live in TX and with the "Citizens United" decision I think Rs can raise the money at one board meeting of the API. If BHO's offshore drilling permit was aimed at anything current, it was not oil and gas - that is a decade away. It was aimed at the next API meeting. Without that move the Rs might have beeen able to raise twice that from API members, alone.

If Volcker and Warren get their way on the finance bill - if it looks closer to Barney Frank's rendition than to Dodd's [and I am for that and think it should have happened last year] the Rs will be able to raise the money from one of those hedge fund managers who made a $B last year.

The fact is, after "Citizens United", the lid is off. The Ds should have no trouble raising these big bucks either. Say Justice Stevens resigns next month and there is a scramble to get Judge Diane Wood [a 'Horn] or SG Kagan consented to by the Senate before the first Monday in October. If the Rs try to block a solid lawyer on partisan grounds the Ds can raise $50M from ABA members, alone.

I am trying to tell y'all: money is now no object to ambition. It will be a stumbling block to good government, but it will not be an blip to political ambition.

Yet Pawlenty, who plans to leave his governor's seat after November's election and run full-time for the Republican nomination, faces an even tougher test.

Romney may have some trouble with his national image, but Pawlenty, in comparison, is nearly anonymous. Even among donors, some leading Republican officeholders and the media — let alone the general public — he is a virtual unknown.

While both Romney and Pawlenty have their eyes squarely on the 2012 nomination, with active travel and media schedules and plans to campaign as Republican candidates in the midterms, they are well behind past early starters in establishing presidential operations.

There has been no comparable activity this cycle, suggesting a certain ambivalence within the potential Republican field. Romney made his first visit to Iowa in March, as part of his book tour, and Pawlenty has barely touched ground in the early battlegrounds.'

3. Opposed a Colombian Free Trade Agreement because advocates ignore that "labor leaders have been targeted for assassination on a fairly consistent basis."

4. "Now, what I’ve done throughout this campaign is to propose a net spending cut."

5. "If we see money being misspent, we're going to put a stop to it, and we will call it out and we will publicize it."

6. "Yesterday, Jim, the head of Caterpillar, said that if Congress passes our plan, this company will be able to rehire some of the folks who were just laid off."

7. "I want to go line by line through every item in the Federal budget and eliminate programs that don't work, and make sure that those that do work work better and cheaper."

8. "[My plan] will not help speculators who took risky bets on a rising market and bought homes not to live in but to sell."

9. "Instead of allowing lobbyists to slip big corporate tax breaks into bills during the dead of night, we will make sure every single tax break and earmark is available to every American online."

10. "We can no longer accept a process that doles out earmarks based on a member of Congress's seniority, rather than the merit of the project."

11. "If your family earns less than $250,000 a year, you will not see your taxes increased a single dime. I repeat: not one single dime."

12. "Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe the United States has to be frank with the Chinese about such failings and will press them to respect human rights."

13. "We must take out Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants if we have them in our sights."

14. "Lobbyists won’t work in my White House!"

15. "The real gamble in this election is playing the same Washington game with the same Washington players and expecting a different result."

16. "I'll make oil companies like Exxon pay a tax on their windfall profits, and we'll use the money to help families pay for their skyrocketing energy costs and other bills."

17. "Obama will not sign any non-emergency bill without giving the American public an opportunity to review and comment on the White House website for five days." Obama is 1-for-11 on this promise so far.

18. A special one on the 100th day, "the first thing I'd do as President is sign the Freedom of Choice Act. That's the first thing I'd do."

'Romney has the stronger hand but some real problems. He retains almost all the strengths he brought to the battle two years ago, when he was the runner-up to McCain: a record of accomplishment in business, a stately mien (and famously great hair); a solid and photogenic family; a New England base, anchored by a vacation home in primary-powered New Hampshire; and vast personal wealth and fundraiser prowess.

But his liabilities are equally formidable. Some are the public's long-standing bigotry against his Mormon faith, a history of breathtaking policy flip-flops and, perhaps as grave — no kidding — his striking nonchalance about transporting the family dog in a box tied to the roof of his car en route to a family vacation. (Note to would-be candidates: Don't piss off the animal lovers.)

Romney has new challenges too. For one, he hasn't demonstrated that he has learned some key lessons from 2008, and he still seems unable to talk openly and with passion about his faith or political convictions. This has led to his second problem: among much of the Republican Party's smart set, Romney is not considered a satisfactory contender, in terms of talent, résumé or agenda, to take on Obama.

And he is sure to face ferocious opposition from the right and left given his confusing opposition to the new federal health care law, which is strikingly similar to the measure he signed as Massachusetts governor (among other analogous items, the statewide plan included a requirement that individuals buy health insurance).'

STATEMENT: “No family making less than $250,000 will see any form of tax increase.” (multiple times on the campaign trail)

EXPIRATION DATE: Broken multiple times, including the raised taxes on tobacco, a new tax on indoor tanning salons, but most prominently on February 11, 2010: “President Barack Obama said he is “agnostic” about raising taxes on households making less than $250,000 as part of a broad effort to rein in the budget deficit.”

RECESS APPOINTMENTS

STATEMENT: Then-Senator Obama declared that a recess appointment is “damaged goods” and has “less credibility” than a normal appointment. August 25, 2005.

EXPIRATION DATE: March 27, 2010: “If, in the interest of scoring political points, Republicans in the Senate refuse to exercise that responsibility, I must act in the interest of the American people and exercise my authority to fill these positions on an interim basis.”

GUANTANAMO BAY

STATEMENT: Executive Order stating, "The detention facilities at Guantánamo for individuals covered by this order shall be closed as soon as practicable, and no later than one year from the date of this order." January 22, 2009.

EXPIRATION DATE: November 19, 2009: "Guantánamo, we had a specific deadline that was missed."

The conventional American presidential-campaign wisdom:
The elections have become permanent campaigns, starting earlier and earlier every four years.
President Obama is fundamentally weakened, and Republican candidates are already champing at the bit to take him on.
The 2008 race so profoundly changed the way the contests are funded that no major candidate will ever again take public financing (or the spending limits that come with those government dollars) to bankroll their efforts.
Because all these pieces of wisdom are completely false, now is a good time to look at where the 2012 presidential race really stands. And while engaging in punditry about a contest several years off is always good fun, the exercise better serves to examine the political health of the incumbent — which is, it turns out, surprisingly robust.

STATEMENT: “We've got a philosophical difference, which we've debated repeatedly, and that is that Senator Clinton believes the only way to achieve universal health care is to force everybody to purchase it. And my belief is, the reason that people don't have it is not because they don't want it but because they can't afford it.” Barack Obama, speaking at a Democratic presidential debate, February 21, 2008.

EXPIRATION DATE: On March 23, 2010, Obama signed the individual mandate into law.

HEALTH CARE NEGOTIATIONS ON C-SPAN

STATEMENT: “These negotiations will be on C-SPAN, and so the public will be part of the conversation and will see the decisions that are being made.” January 20, 2008, and seven other times.

EXPIRATION DATE: Throughout the summer, fall, and winter of 2009 and 2010; when John McCain asked about it during the health care summit February 26, Obama dismissed the issue by declaring, “the campaign is over, John.”

On March 20th, something truly extraordinary happened. On the eve of the health care vote, a group of black Democrat Congressmen (eschewing the private tunnels they usually use to cross from their offices to the Capitol) chose to walk en masse through a crowd of protesters, confident that the knuckledragging Tea Party goons they and their media pals have reviled for a year now would respond with racial epithets.

And then, when the crowd didn't, the black Congressmen made it up anyway. Representative Andre Carson (Democrat, Indiana) insisted he heard the N-word 15 times. He's either suffering from the same condition as that Guam-flipper from Georgia, or he's a liar. At a scene packed not only with crews from the Dem poodle media but with a gazillion cellphone cameras, not one single N-word has been caught on audio. (By contrast, see my post yesterday for how easy it is to get it on tape when real epithets are flying.)

I disagree with John Lewis (Democrat, Georgia) politically but I have always respected him as a genuine civil rights warrior. And I feel slightly queasy at the thought that he would dishonor both the movement and his own part in it for the cheapest of partisan points - in the same way I would be disgusted by a Holocaust survivor painting a swastika on his own door and blaming it on his next-door neighbor over a boundary dispute.

But that's what the Democratic Party has been reduced to - faking hate crimes as pathetically as any lonely, mentally ill college student. Congressmen Carson, Lewis, Cleaver and the rest have turned themselves into the Congressional equivalent of the Duke University stripper. Except that they're not some penniless loser but a group of important, influential lifetime legislators enjoying all the privileges and perquisites of power, and in all probability acting at the behest of the Democrat leadership.

Isn't that what societies with functioning media used to call "a story"?

You are right - Clinton never really lied about who he was - one could understand Clinton's policies and where he was coming from.

Obama, in sharp contrast, spent two years on the campaign trail telling America he was a moderate, who would work with Republicans and arrive at CENTRIST policies.

The lies with Obama are closer to FRAUD - if Obama thinks he is released from his campaign promises, the American public should be released from Obama's election - Obama should resign.

At no point in American history has the Federal Government acted in such a sweeping way AGAINST THE CONSENT OF THE PEOPLE.

The country is being held hostage by a bunch of people who lied to get into power. These people even tried to purposely lose a war just so they could win an election. It is pretty bad that the American government is simply REFUSING TO LISTEN TO THE PEOPLE.

Instead of listening, the response is INTIMIDATION POLITICS - CALLING PEOPLE RACIST IF ONE DOES NOT AGREE WITH OBAMA.

'Although described by many as a smart, gifted and glib fundraiser, Neil S. Alpert, 31, who began work on March 29, probably won't do much to burnish Steele's image as a money manager.

This is the same Neil S. Alpert who in July 2007 was ordered by the D.C. government to repay nearly $70,000 in unauthorized expenses and unaccounted funds from a pair of local baseball groups he had chaired. He was also fined $4,000. "

'In another serious blow to the Republican National Committee, one of its top fundraisers — and its few remaining connections to the traditional GOP donor base — has resigned a senior position.

Former Ambassador Sam Fox, a top supporter of George W. Bush who was one of the co-chairmen of the Republican Regents — the RNC's top-level fundraising board — has left the post, two Republican sources said.

Fox, a Missouri businessman who was Bush's ambassador to Belgium, was one of the RNC's few remaining connections to the deep-pocketed Republican establishment and was viewed as the heaviest hitter among its fundraisers.

But Fox was "deeply troubled by the pattern of self-inflicted wounds and missteps," another major Republican fundraiser told me today, and had "lost confidence" in Steele.

He was also finding it harder and harder to tap fellow wealthy Republicans, the source said.

The GOP source predicted a coming wave of high-level finance resignations amid dissatisfaction over the arrival, under an ethical cloud, of a new fundraising staffer.'

The president, who promised in both word and style to usher in a “new era” of Washington “responsibility,” routinely says things that aren’t true and supports initiatives that break campaign promises. When called on it, he mostly keeps digging. And when obliged to explain why American voters are turning so sharply away from his party and his policies, Obama pins the blame not on his own deviations from verity but on his failure to “explain” things “more clearly to the American people.”

Presidential defiance, dissembling, and disinformation are nothing new, even if such political perennials are more disappointing coming from someone who still boasts (as he did in the State of the Union address) of “telling hard truths” to the American people and “doing what’s best for the next generation.” Voters pretty much knew that Bill Clinton was a slime ball when they sent him to the White House; Barack Obama held out the promise of being more dignified.

Clinton’s reptilian relationship with the truth, suffused as it always has been with a catch-me-if-you-can sense of personal preservation, actually turned out to have some uses for the nation when he changed course after the 1994 Republican revolution and began co-opting some of the limited-government policies proposed by his opponents. It’s easier for a chameleon to change his spots.
Obama’s dishonesty, by contrast, seems to spring from a different place. As a man who has spent most of his career wowing people with his words and very little of it converting those words into deeds, he has an activist’s gap between rhetoric and reality and a radio broadcaster’s promiscuous carelessness with cutting rhetorical corners.

The Republican National Committee sent a fundraising mail piece earlier this month with a return number that leads to a phone-s*x line offering "live, one-on-one talk with a nasty girl who will do anything you want for just $2.99 per minute."

At the bottom of a piece designed to resemble a census form, a toll-free number is listed next to the national party's address.

A voter in Minnesota received the mailer and called the number intending to complain about the attempt to raise money with a form that looks like a government document.

But the Minnesotan was instead directed to a second toll-free number that greets callers as "s*xy guy" before offering them the chance to talk with "real local students, housewives and working girls from all over the country."

Obama's taxes are about to send the economy into a DOUBLE DIP RECESSION - AND ALL WE HEAR IS THE RACE CARD.
---------------------------------
Another brilliant prediction. Intrade has the chance of the Dow Jones closing at 6500 or lower on ANY day before 12/31/10, at....

10%

So, 37th, did you go long this contract? You should, oh mighty trader.

and here, mark halperin, the biggest rightwing cheerleader with some Bad News for Republicans:

Mark Halperin has a very smart column today that will, I think, augur a round of Republican agita about the weakness of the GOP presidential field and a new round of chatter about Mitch Daniels and John Thune.

Halperin notes that, contrary to the conventional wisdom that presidential cycles start earlier and more intensely then ever, this Republican field is off to a slow start.

There are only two candidates laying the groundwork for a run in a systematic way, Tim Pawlenty and Mitt Romney. (Sarah Palin and Mike Huckabee are both making some gestures in that direction, but more in the direction of media stardom.) And neither of those is a juggernaut — or at all widely known.

His rather painful Romney anecdote:

And despite his years in the national spotlight, Romney remains unexpectedly unfamiliar to a large number of Americans. On a recent cross-country trip, as I read Romney's new best seller, No Apology, which features a close-up photo of the author on the front cover, a passing flight attendant exclaimed, "No apology? Not even for his wife?" If Romney can so easily be confused with disgraced politician John Edwards, he'll have to work harder to create a more distinct identity if he hopes to win the White House."

The president's popularity is plummeting -- down to a 44 percent approval rating in the most recent, post-Obamacare CBS poll -- and his rhetoric is getting angrier as he tours the country demanding that critics of Obamacare shut up. His predecessor, George W. Bush, was blasted by the media when he used "Bring it on" against our nation's enemies. President Obama's jeering "Let them try" challenge was followed by a sneering attempt at stand-up in Portland, Maine, on Friday when he compared critics of the new health care regime to fools wondering why seeds don't sprout immediately upon planting.

yeah, I've seen projection before, but I don't think anything to the extreme as zook. Like literally jaw dropping moments. I'm never really sure what to think as to how serious he is. He doesn't SEEM like he's joking, but the stuff he says is so incredibly stupid that you can't blame a guy for wondering if he is for real.

That being said, that model mayhem link probably eliminated any doubt as to his neuroticism. He clearly has no idea how to interact with other humans, so he comes up with that stuff.

'Psychology.
a.
the tendency to ascribe to another person feelings, thoughts, or attitudes present in oneself, or to regard external reality as embodying such feelings, thoughts, etc., in some way.
b.
Psychoanalysis. such an ascription relieving the ego of a sense of guilt or other intolerable feeling.'

It should have been predictable that the reaction to the passage of the health care bill was to focus on the tone rather than the substance. Racial slurs, veiled and unveiled threats, a litany of name calling, and the level of hysteria have all been useful tools for the proponents of the bill who would rather discredit the opposition than face the defects of the bill, the campaign promises that have been become lies, and the general bribery and sleaze that surrounded the support of the bill.

I've been trying to figure out why 37th is so obsessed with racism. Do you think he's that guy who heads up the Tea Party, what's his name, Dale Robertson? The guy who carried the niggar sign. He seems the kind of guy who would go nuclear about "white racism".

"RNC Chairman Michael Steele has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks following news that RNC donor money was used to pay a $2,000 tab at a Los Angeles strip club. Days later, a fundraising letter “mistakenly directed would-be donors to call a telephone number belonging to a phone-s*x operation.”

Even allies were quick to attack Steele and the committee, following months of other missteps. Tony Perkins, president of the conservative Family Research Council, urged members to stop giving money to the RNC. Sen. John Kyl (R-AZ) publicly chided Steele yesterday, refusing to say whether Steele “should step down or not.” “This kind of thing has got to stop,” Kyl said on Fox News Sunday. A recent National Journal poll found that 71 percent of Republican “insiders” thought of Steele as a “liability.”

But today, in his first interview since the scandal broke, Steele said he would not step down and suggested some the criticism directed towards him may be a result of his race, saying that African-Americans have a smaller “margin of error”

[...] In August, Jacob Hyde got his service dog, Mya, from Puppies Behind Bars, a program based in New York State that uses prisoners to raise and train dogs for lives of service. The organization has placed 23 dogs with veterans with P.T.S.D. in the last two years, training them to obey 87 different commands.

“If I didn’t have legs, I would have to crawl around,” said Mr. Hyde, 25. “If I didn’t have Mya, I wouldn’t be able to leave the house.”

If Mr. Hyde says “block,” the dog will stand perpendicularly in front of him to keep other people at a distance. If he asks Mya to “get his back,” the dog will sit facing backward by his side.

The dogs are trained to jolt a soldier from a flashback, dial 911 on a phone and even sense a panic attack before it starts. And, perhaps most important, the veterans’ sense of responsibility, optimism and self-awareness is renewed by caring for the dogs.

The dogs help soldiers understand “what’s happening as it’s happening, what to do about it, and then doing it,” said Joan Esnayra, a geneticist whose research team has received $300,000 from the Defense Department to study the issue. “You can use your dog kind of like a mirror to reflect back your emotional tenor.”
[...]
Under a bill written by Senator Al Franken, Democrat of Minnesota, veterans with P.T.S.D. will get service dogs as part of a pilot program run by the Department of Veterans Affairs. "

#2. Given that most independents tend to vote with one party or another, the numbers aren't that surprising. I would be really interested to read an article that focused on interviewing liberal TPers or folks who identify as Democrats. Recognizing that this accounts for about 1.4% of the American public, it's not that surprising that one in 70 or so Americans has a bit of cognitive dissonance.

#4. I lived in Iowa during the reign of (Governor for Life) Terry Bransted. He seemed a middle of the road Republican and the state was competently run. I left the state before he left office, so can't say much about the end of his terms. Couple an anti-incumbent mood with nostalgia for better times and it's a good time for a comeback.

Bondosan, I haven't been able to even find any Jerry Brown advertisng -- don't beleive he's done any. I don't think he even declared until March. However, there's some juicy stuff floating around about Whitman -- I hope he takes advantage of it.

"In addition to being the CEO for eBay, Whitman sat on the Board of Directors of Goldman Sachs in 2001 and 2002. You could not draw up a more damaging corporate connection right now than to the “vampire squid” that is Goldman Sachs. But there’s more to the story than just a seat on the board, for a variety of reasons. First, RJ Eskow explains Whitman’s shady actions while sitting on the board:

Whitman profited from a practice called “spinning,” which a professor specializing in financial fraud and corruption calls a “quasi-kickback.” As the Sacramento Bee explains:

“(Spinning) involved offering a company’s executives and board members personal shares in IPOs as a reward for giving the investment firms corporate business. Investment firms initially denied that was their motive, but later agreed to ban the practice.

The firms offered key executives shares at starter IPO prices not then available to ordinary retail investors. The executives resold their shares within days, making millions.”

As CEO of eBay, Whitman hired Goldman Sachs to handle the company’s initial public stock offering. She was also a private banking client of the firm’s at the same time. She directed eBay to use Goldman Sachs for a second stock offering, too – and to help it acquire PayPal. Goldman Sachs got $8 million in fees from eBay while Whitman was CEO, while she made $1.78 million from those “spinning” deals.

Whitman had to pay $3 million dollars to shareholders to settle a lawsuit from that one.

But the far more insidious piece of this is the extent to which Goldman Sachs has been screwing the state of California over the past several years. In 2008 ProPublica reported that Goldman urged its investors to bet against California bonds while being paid to sell them, looking to profit off the economic misfortune of the state. Difficulty in selling the bonds would increase the interest rate California would have to pay to float them, expanding the profits of the likes of Goldman Sachs."

"The Republican Party's strategy since early last year of lock-step opposition to the Obama administration's major legislative initiatives has proved to be less bankable than some party leaders may have anticipated.

Eight months before congressional elections, House and Senate Democratic candidates lead in nearly every important campaign
fundraising category. Democratic House lawmakers appear likely to reverse their seven-cycle record of being outspent by House Republicans, according to recent finance reports."

Crist's call for federal intervention followed a similar request from Florida Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink in a letter to the state attorney general Friday.

The prospect of a federal investigation will intensify the scrutiny of the state GOP, which is reeling from the discovery this week that Greer siphoned party donations to a shell company he owned, and the disclosure that top officials planned to pay him a $125,000 golden parachute if he resigned.

At the same time, new records obtained by the Times/Herald expose how another top GOP lawmaker — incoming Speaker Dean Cannon — used a party credit card to charge $200,000 in a 21/2-year period ending in early 2009."

First off I was not in Iowa during the Branstad regime so I do not have an opinion of his accomplishments or lack thereof (I have been in the state for a little over 7 years). The only ads I have seen for governor were Culver talking himself up back in late 2009 (you know if you have to talk yourself up in a non-election year you are in trouble). I know a lot of people who are pro-Branstad are more anti-Culver with fading memories of Branstad. I grew-up in MD which is basically a one party system so my memory of attack ads is scant. However, Iowa is a purple state and the attack ads proliferate. Boswell has some of the worst (its painful…they come from both sides). However, getting back to your question, no I have not seen those ads, but something tells me I will come June thru November.

I've told Jack that if he really wants to mess with the Eagles fans at the local bars he must get a McNabb Redskins jersey ASAP and wear it everywhere.

McNabb is very popular with the fans here. He's never gotten fancy, he plays hard and well, he's gotten them in the play-offs regularly, and the fans are grateful. If we haven't won, it isn't just because of McNabb (think Coach Reid).

Comment moderation just means you have to be on-topic. Who knows, maybe Chris will finally write an article about cell tower based microwave and/or laser weapons being aimed at you, and which grade tin-foil works best to shield your brain with?

MMeyers, I know what you mean. I typically hate all things NFC-East except for the Redskins. I can't stand Romo or Manning. But for some reason, I've always liked McNabb. I think it's because like Favre, they both bring a great artistry and passion to the position. It's just a lot of fun to watch them work.

The thing about California is that there is almost no retail politicking that goes on there. The state is so vast, it's all about TV and radio. So, it doesn't surprise me that Whitman has been able to move ahead by spending a gazillion dollars on advertising.

I really hope that Brown and Co. have been doing a good job archiving Whitman's various on-camera gaffs and blunders. They'll be helpful in blunting her capacity to dominate the airwaves with her personal fortune.

margaretmeyers writes
"DDawd, the thing is that he HATES all things Eagles. McNabb is and always will be an Eagle to him, so the idea of McNabb slipping into the sheets with his beloved Redskins is impossible to comprehend. His brain explodes!"

For 15+ years Vikings fans hated Favre with a passion. It didn't take them long to get over it.

I'm surprised we didn't get a puff piece about Sarah palin's new show. But wait -- there's nothing to puff:

"Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s (R) lack of policy knowledge and gaffes on the 2008 campaign led many to conclude that she may be better cut out to host a talk show than stay in politics. But her first foray into the genre, “Real American Stories,” which debuted on Fox News Thursday night, was beset with controversy before it even aired.

Rapper LL Cool J and country music star Toby Keith both expressed disapproval that Fox was using canned interviews they had recorded with different people for Palin’s show, leading the network to pull LL Cool J’s interview.

Following the show’s airing, critics gave middling reviews, calling it “canned,” “innocuous, flat,” and a “letdown.” It appears viewers weren’t thrilled either, as Mediaite notes that the show’s ratings didn’t even beat those of the program it replaced:

Moreover, the show “shed viewers from start to finish,” losing 18 percent of viewers over the course of the program.'

DDawd, the thing is that he HATES all things Eagles. McNabb is and always will be an Eagle to him, so the idea of McNabb slipping into the sheets with his beloved Redskins is impossible to comprehend. His brain explodes!

Myself? I'm not a fan. I root for my home team. For 22 years I was glad when the Bears won. For 13 years I was glad when the Skins won. For 18 years I've been glad when the Eagles win. I have even allowed the Phillies to squeeze the darling Cubs from my heart.

sliowa, I hate it when both candidates are so flawed that it reminds one the Sartre play "No Exit". I had heard from you and others that Culver was a failure, but CC has acted as if Branstad was previously a success.

Gildersleeve was the pompous Water Commissioner of a small fictional midwestern town. Branstad somewhat resembles the actor who played Gildy on the radio and in a movie, I think. But Gildy was likeable, if barely competent and ridiculously vain.

bsimon, I posted the link to the WaPo D fundraising story earlier. I am surprised CC did not pick it up, already.

From Branstad's web site:

---------------------------------------------
(URBANDALE) – Former Gov. Terry Branstad will meet with area small business owners and local supporters to unveil job creation strategies on Monday, April 5, in Ankeny.

Branstad’s goal is to create 200,000 new private-sector jobs in Iowa.

The event is open to the press. Details on the roll-out are as follows:

Monday, April 5, 2010

10:30 a.m. Gov. Branstad unveils job creation strategies
DMI Computer Technologies
1601 N. Ankeny Boulevard
Ankeny, IA
------------------------------------------------------
His photo appears. Most of you are not old enough to remember "The Great Gildersleeve".

“Need I say that we all must have this magic bullet, right now? I hope he has published this plan at his website. I intend to look for it.”

I do not think there will be any silver bullets and I think a lot will depend on a growing economy. If the economy goes into a second dip (a possibility), Branstad numbers are going to be way off. I think he is banking on a growing economy. The one thing Branstad has in his favor is that he is running against Culver. Culver has been absent during some troubling times (projected budgets being way off forcing large cuts in spending) and he has shown little leadership in agenda setting during the Iowa general assembly. His recent budget was assailed again for over spending state law. There are a lot of issues surrounds Culver (Federal audit found then Secretary of State Culver mishandle money and recent audit found Hollywood tax credits were wrongly given leading to resignation of some state officials, etc., etc.). Currently, Branstad leads Culver due to the sheer incompetence of Culver. I think once Branstad starts talking people will remember him it may not be for the best.

Yes it is both a serious suggestion and a taunt. People want to use oil, they should deal with what it takes to extract it safely. Now, all those tankers, all those just-outside-the-shipping-lane disasters, pirates, environmental horrors abroad visited on people (and other living things) all because we can't stomach the idea of drilling here? It is crazy and yet, yet no one, R or D will talk of drilling the California Coast and run for office at the same time.

You are exactly right. It would be like matching revenue to expenditure = political suicide. Democracy's downside. People tend to fantasy, all the time believing it is the right thing to do, as if they were making a difficult choice.

I do blame Summers et al and Obama for hiring and keeping him. But that is another topic, a bipartisan disaster.

Industries regulate government, so perhaps, California drilling is just a shot away.

1) It will be interesting to see whether the live up to their fundraising expectations. Over the weekend the Post reported that the Ds are leading the Rs in that department. The Fix was remiss in failing to mention that, in the context of this blurb.

2) Another reminder that the TEA types are not monolithic. If 15% think the country is on the right track & 17% approve of the job the President is doing, what is the attraction of the TEA party?

A shout out to the Tea Party "movement," with an accompanying bogus "poll" to boot, to validate this bigotry? In the Washington Post? What the ______?

Pal, seriously, do you read your own coworkers' articles in the Post. Dana Milbank, Gene Robinson, Colbert King, etc.? Do you ever find time to read Frank Rich, Bob Herbert, or MoDo in the NY Times?

Since the bagger's recent violent racist meltdown on the Hill, most of your big time counterparts have called out the baggers as a bunch of bigoted thugs, the spawn of such earlier "movements" as the Klan, the Dixiecrats, and the White Citizens Councils. Most journalists have exposed that the baggers' alleged concern about "spending" is a bogus cover issue that clearly is not the animating force behind these socios (see, e.g., spit on Congressman Cleaver, n-word signs).

Do you appreciate how deeply offensive this blog's "neutral" characterization of the baggers is in this multicultural town, INCLUDING inside PostWorld?

Fix, meet Colbert King. He works with you at the Post. The following is HIS "Political News & Analysis":

"The angry faces at Tea Party rallies are eerily familiar. They resemble faces of protesters lining the street at the University of Alabama in 1956 as Autherine Lucy, the school's first black student, bravely tried to walk to class.

Those same jeering faces could be seen gathered around the Arkansas National Guard troopers who blocked nine black children from entering Little Rock's Central High School in 1957.

"They moved closer and closer," recalled Elizabeth Eckford, one of the Little Rock Nine. "Somebody started yelling, 'Lynch her! Lynch her!' I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the crowd -- someone who maybe could help. I looked into the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind face, but when I looked at her again, she spat on me."

The angry faces at Tea Party rallies are eerily familiar. They resemble faces of protesters lining the street at the University of Alabama in 1956 as Autherine Lucy, the school's first black student, bravely tried to walk to class."

"It was like finding out that your ex-wife is now dating your father. What is a man to do?"

Interesting question. On the one hand, a high-five for Dad, for scoring someone 30 years younger. But do you warn him of the pain and suffering to come, or go Oedipal & keep quiet while he learns a new definition of misery?

Mark, I have no idea about the draft. I really pay next to no attention to college football and I haven't really been paying attention too much to the draft coverage. But the Redskins definitely do need one. Their O-line wasn't that great and Chris Samuels' retirement just created another need to be filled.

MMeyers, was your husband just upset at the trade or was it also the fact that it was the Redskins? I don't have a ton of experiences like that. First one that comes to mind is Mussina signing with the Yankees. Bad enough for him to leave Baltimore, but then to sign with those jerks.

DDawd, we have lived in Philadelphia for 18 years. My husband is a huge Redskins fan (we lived in DC before we came here) and he was as distraught as I had ever seen him last night. He was disbelieving, gob-smacked, shocked, disgusted, alarmed, nauseous, angry, knocked for a loop, out-of-sorts, crazed. You name it.

It was like finding out that your ex-wife is now dating your father. What is a man to do?

Ddawd, is there a sure thing LT in the draft?
-----------------------------
Shrink, thanx for the link. I understand valving in drilling rigs to "fail safe" close when power is removed or when a pipe breaks. Oil spills in the Gulf are always related to single hulled tankers and never to platforms. Multiple valves limit flows or spills in the worst case scenario. Even the earthquake issue on the PC would not make platforms an environmental threat. Does a R in CA dare to offer this? A D would not, I think. But whether you meant it as a taunt or a serious suggestion, it is a serious suggestion.
------------------------------------------
Another serious suggestion is that fiscal sanity calls for more tax revenue, probably as soon as employment stabilizes. The Rs will not have the guts for that. But I do not think the Ds will, either.
----------------------------------------
Another serious suggestion is that we may have missed the opportunity to re-regulate the financial industry and that now it will be like pulling teeth. It was a far more pressing need than health care reform.
Blame Summers, but BHO can take the responsibility for not listening to Volcker from the gitgo. See:

I am skipping the gym this morning b/c of a head cold, so have time for a second post, and perhaps more. Forgive my enthusiasm, it is feigned at best.

shrink, Steele will be able to raise $$ again next week. The social cons have short memories, [Vitter, Ensign, etc.], or else they take Jesus' message of "turn the other cheek" as compelling in this context.
---------------------
#4. "The commercial also touts Branstad's plan to create 200,000 more jobs and increase family income by 25 percent."

Need I say that we all must have this magic bullet, right now? I hope he has published this plan at his website. I intend to look for it.

I am reminded of the story about the incredible Magna heiress running for MP in Ontario as a Conservative.
Belinda Stronach's debate opponent, a Liberal lawyer, announced her increased employment strategy during the debate. Stronach, in reply, said something like "That's brilliant. I adopt it, and when I win I will give you credit for it when I carry the legislation successfully."

... this journalist maintains that moderation of blogs by mainstream media sites is used by warrantless surveillance operatives as "cover" for unconstitutional censorship -- via "spoofed" or faked web pages to which "targeted individuals" are re-directed in real-time by sophisticated (but somewhat transparent) software "filtering" protocols.

The WaPo ombudsman obviously has not read my articles, or has failed to heed the message. (Perhaps my articles are being "black holed" by a censorship regime apparently based out of the nation's 70-some Homeland "multi-agency" fusion centers?)

The notion of "trusted" blog commentators smacks of media elitism. Having been a member of mainstream media for better than three decades, I find such a "tiered" approach to be anti-democratic, a caste system that plays into the hands of covert government censorship. Have secret government agents been flashing badges around the WaPo office?

Since I have revealed my identity and background all over the net, I don't mind posting with my real name. But whistle-blowers certainly would object to being relegated to the back of the blog comment bus because of their reticence to reveal themselves.

I hope WaPo reconsiders going the route of The New York Times -- where the preponderance of evidence shows that my attempted postings have been censored by government operatives who, for six years, have hijacked my internet account to effect what the spooks refer to as a "man in the middle" attack.

Mr. Alexander and WaPo editors, please don't enable the monkey in the middle!

***

AS REPORTS EMERGE OF AN N.S.A. 'PROJECT GENEVA' -- AIMED AT STOPPING GOV'T MICROWAVE TORTURE IN THE U.S. -- THE REPORTER WHO BROKE THE STORY OF HOMELAND 'TORTURE TOWERS' REPORTS ONGOING ASSAULTS.

• "These covert government crimes against humanity must stop NOW," says veteran journalist Vic Livingston of Bucks County, PA -- home to MAGLOCLEN, "centcom of a Mid-Atlantic states American Gestapo."

Mark, I'm surprised about the in division trade as well. Apparently it was based on trying to make McNabb happy in his destination. (I love the Redskins, but I can't see why the hell McNabb would want to go there. I guess it beats going to somewhere like Oakland)

But McNabb still has plenty. Eagles were a playoff team last season and he was effective in terms of his own personal stats. But the Redskins still need to be able to keep the QB on his feet whether it be Campbell or McNabb. I'm not sure how I feel about it. I don't know if Campbell is that great, but he has shown incredible toughness with that sieve he's been playing behind all this time. But McNabb is one of my favorite QBs (which is saying a LOT for an Eagles QB)

I still remember how McNabb was booed on draft day when the Eagles took him instead of Rickey Williams.

I'm not incredibly optimistic, but I am intrigued and excited. I know the Redskins do this sort of thing every offseason, but we can't say they have ever gotten a McNabb.

"We intend to paint a very vivid picture of the fork in the road that this country faces -- not merely a choice between two candidates, but a serious philosophical decision about the future of this country."

Another example of bipartisan agreement.
Meanwhile, poor Michael Steele. There are diverse ways to get fired, someone should write a tragi-comic piece on that.
In this instance, the job is leaving him.

I have seen Whitman perform, thanks in part to links provided here. Either she has overcome her awkwardness and her exhibitions of tin ears, or the CA public has not seen her yet as much as we junkies have , or the Ds are facing an earthquake in CA.
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Ddawd, I thought trades are never made "in conference" in our major sports. If Skins have a left tackle and a decent coach then McNabb has enough left to make Eagles flinch at trips to DC.
============
There were reports over the weekend of Ds awash in money, here in the WaPo:

"Citizens United" will change the money game and in an obscenely grotesque way. I do not doubt #1 and will be surprised if $50M is more than small portion of the largesse poured on the media makers by the Rs.
Or by the Ds.